As Lucy has gotten older (and now that we have to pay for a plane ticket for her!) we have been mostly doing road trips for our travels. While we did a lot of road trips with Lucy when she was younger, once she was 2 road trips because a LOT harder. She became more independent, wants to move and wiggle a lot more, and isn’t a great car napper anymore. So, based on the last few road trips we’ve been on, here are 10 tips to make road trips with a toddler a lot easier.
1. Think Through Your Start/End Times
While planning your trip think about when would be a good time to hit the road and what time you would like to be to your destination. Is your kid a good car napper? Do you want to try to travel during their nap time? Do you want to travel at night when they are likely to go to sleep? Do you want to wake them up early to start your trip? Do what works for your family.
Another way you can think through this is to work backwards, figure out what time you want to be at your destination. Once you decide that, figure out how many hours you will be on the road plus add in a few more hours to account for gas stops, bathroom breaks, meal stops and time to let the wiggles out. Go back that many hours from the time you want to be at your destination and that will tell you when you need to leave by.
2. Interesting Activities and Toys
Long car rides can be super boring, especially for young toddlers. Try to bring a variety of activities that your child can do independently. And don’t give them everything at once! Make sure to bring things you already know they love to play with as well as a few special things that your kids don’t get to play with all the time. Some things that we take for Lucy (that she plays with often at home) are her Magna Doodle (we sometimes bring a smaller one like this), dolls/stuffed animals, Little People (her favorites are her Disney Princess set), a small ball and cars. We also bring things for coloring (paper, coloring books, and crayons) and stickers.
Some special activities that we bring for Lucy that she doesn’t have access to all the time are Melissa and Doug Water Wow books, reusable sticker scenes, magnet scenes, and Post-it Notes.
Also if your kid is good at napping in the car (and even if they aren’t) make sure to bring some of their comfort items to help them nap. We usually bring a stuffed animal or two and a small blanket for Lucy to snuggle with when she needs a nap or is having a hard time.
3. Car Games
Think of some of the classic car games that you played as a kid. You can totally start playing those with your toddler! You can play games like 20 Questions, Guess My Animal (or book, or song, or movie, etc), or I Spy. Currently Lucy’s favorite game is I Spy. Ben will tell her he sees something and Lucy has to find it. Sometimes she likes to reverse the roles and tells Ben that she sees something and he has to find it. These are ways to pass the time but be prepared that your toddler may want to play it for an exceptionally long amount of time.
4. Books
Books are a great thing to bring in the car for your kids. Bring some of their favorites that they are familiar with and also consider some interactive books as well. We love the Poke-a-Dot books and always bring at least one on our road trips. They can keep Lucy entertained for quite a while. Some of our other favorites are Press Here, Mix It Up, Elephant and Piggie, Llama Llama, and the Indestructables line of books are also fantastic because they are small, lightweight and literally cannot be destroyed.
5. Snacks
As we have mentioned in basically every other post involving toddlers or babies, snacks are always a good idea. Try to bring things that aren’t too messy but that are also entertaining and are liked by your kids. We love to bring Lucy’s snack cup to fill with pretzels, crackers or other snacks while we are in the car. This helps (a little) with spilling and it takes Lucy a little longer to eat the snacks because it takes more time to pull them out of the cup. We also make sure to have a water bottle or cup for Lucy that we refill with water. But we try to limit the amount of water she drinks so we don’t have to do five million diaper changes.
6. Music
Have a variety of music that your kids (and you!) like. We use a combination of our old school CDs as well as songs that are downloaded onto our phones. Some of our favorites are Disney Music (Frozen II music if currently Lucy’s favorite), Silly Songs with Larry and Primary Worship.
7. Tray Tables
Now this is something we haven’t used yet, but I found a tray table that attaches to a car seat on clearance and I think it is a great idea! You clip this tray table to the sides of the carseat and it provides a table/flat surface for your kid to play, color, eat or whatever! We will be trying it out on our next road trip and will report back how it works for us. There are lots of options on Amazon here.
8. Wiggle
Build in some time to your trip to let out some wiggles. Let your kids get out at the gas station and run around for a few minutes, grab your lunch and eat at a part where they can play, or plan on stopping at an attraction en route to let everyone get out and stretch their legs while experiencing something new. It adds more time to your trip, but it is worth it to not hear the crying.
9. Wireless Headphones
Not for your toddler, but for you! Having some wireless headphones lets you listen to your own music, podcasts or audiobook while your child is listening to Into the Unknown for the millionth time.
10. Have Patience
Understand that your trip will be longer. Understand that your toddler just wants to wiggle and not sit in their seat for hours and hours. Understand that snacks will fall and water will spill. Just have patience with your kids and with your spouse and remember that you will get to your destination eventually.
